Chapter 55 - 54: Still a Little Bit

Jiang Liu quickly stifled his laughter and said seriously, "Of course I care. How could Daddy not care about Tongtong?"

"Tongtong, what happened today? Can you tell Daddy about it?"

Jiang Liu’s expression remained gentle, but he was suppressing a fiery anger inside. He wanted to know what Yang Yixue had done.

Tongtong gave a vivid and emotional account of how Yang Yixue had treated her.

For instance, not buckling her seatbelt, pinching her ear, being constantly harsh with her, and saying many bad things about Daddy.

When Jun Qingmeng heard that Yang Yixue had pinched Tongtong’s ear, she furrowed her lovely brows.

’How could that woman act like this? It’s just deplorable.’

Jiang Liu’s face darkened as he listened.

Tongtong looked aggrieved and pleaded pitifully, "Daddy, can I not be with her anymore?"

"Being with her for just half a day hurt more than a whole year."

Jiang Liu’s heart ached.

"I never imagined Yang Yixue could be so shameless. Bullying a little girl... she has absolutely no shame."

Jun Qingmeng nodded in agreement.

Jiang Liu immediately pulled out his phone and sent a message to Yang Yixue: "Yang Yixue, I’m warning you! Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you have visitation rights for Tongtong. If you dare bully Tongtong again, I will hire a lawyer and apply to terminate your visitation rights!"

「In the car.」

Upon receiving the message, Yang Yixue exploded in anger.

’What does this have to do with me! Didn’t I take Tongtong shopping? Didn’t I treat her to good food?’

Yang Yixue angrily replied: "Warn me? Jiang Liu, you dare to warn me! And another thing!!! I did nothing wrong! This is all Tongtong’s fault. I’ve been doing my best to be a good mother, so why blame me? Why don’t you ask how Tongtong treated me?"

"She gave me the cold shoulder the entire time! I was already being perfectly patient and caring!"

After sending the message, Yang Yixue slumped over the steering wheel, crying aggrievedly.

’Why! Why did she have to endure everything?’

Back when she and Jiang Liu were still together, he had never spoken to her this way.

’What’s wrong with him now? It wasn’t even her fault, and he’s still getting angry at her.’

「Meanwhile.」

Jiang Liu, who was holding Tongtong, laughed in exasperation.

’This Yang Yixue is truly egocentric to the extreme.’

’He hadn’t noticed it when they first got married, but it was becoming crystal clear now.’

Of course, Jiang Liu wasn’t going to tolerate this woman shifting the blame and slandering Tongtong.

He retorted without holding back:

"You have the nerve to blame Tongtong? Since the day she was born, have you ever fulfilled even a shred of your responsibility as a mother? What can you do besides lose your temper at her? Let’s just talk about this morning. When it was time to eat, you selfishly ordered only what you like. Tongtong can’t buckle her own seatbelt—did you even notice? While shopping at the mall, all you thought about was making Tongtong carry your bags. Do you act like a mother in the slightest?"

"The reason Tongtong dislikes you, to be blunt, is because you’re reaping what you’ve sown. So stop damn well blaming Tongtong for everything, day in and day out."

Jiang Liu gave Yang Yixue no face whatsoever. She didn’t deserve it.

He laid her vile nature bare for all to see.

If he, Jiang Liu, hadn’t played the part of both mother and father since she was born, that woman would have been the death of Tongtong long ago.

Back when he still worked a regular job, that woman would leave Tongtong at home every day, utterly neglected.

Jiang Liu still remembered the day he came home to find Tongtong clutching a head of raw cabbage, gnawing on it.

When Jiang Liu asked where her mother was, Tongtong just cried without saying a word.

From that day forward, he never trusted Yang Yixue again.

Yang Yixue finished reading the message, and her crying stopped.

She stared with her wide, perfectly made-up eyes, staring blankly at the merciless tirade Jiang Liu had written.

Yang Yixue was completely stunned by his retort.

’How could you say something like that to me?’

’Is this still the same good-natured Jiang Liu?’

’The same Jiang Liu who used to make her soup and feed it to her personally when she was on her period?’

’Jiang Liu used to be so good to her.’

’What in the world has happened to him!?’

AAAAAH!

The next moment, Yang Yixue’s composure completely shattered.

Her face contorted as she lost all reason and furiously typed out a hundred-word-long, profanity-laced tirade.

Just as she was about to send it and declare all-out war on Jiang Liu, she stopped herself, hesitated, and then deleted the whole thing.

This was one of her business-savvy strengths: she always managed to realize she was making a mistake just in time.

Yang Yixue suddenly realized that the Jiang Liu of today was not the same powerless, penniless man from her past.

Today’s Jiang Liu earned tens of thousands a day, had a legion of loyal customers, and possessed both money and connections.

Even she wouldn’t dare to go head-to-head with him now.

Yang Yixue typed out a new message and sent it:

"I admit I was wrong. I was neglectful toward Tongtong. How about this: on next week’s visitation day, the three of us can sit down and have a proper talk, okay?"

This was Yang Yixue’s hint to Jiang Liu.

In her mind, Jiang Liu still loved her and wanted to remarry her; he was just a little angry at the moment.

Since she had taken the initiative, she was confident Jiang Liu would accept her invitation.

Then, as long as Jiang Liu was willing to hand over the store’s operations and finances to her, she could consider getting back together with him.

Jiang Liu’s reply came back almost instantly: "No!"

??!

Yang Yixue questioned her very existence.

’Jiang Liu rejected her!’

’He actually rejected her!!’

’Shouldn’t he have replied with "Okay"?’

’Her hint had been so obvious; shouldn’t Jiang Liu have agreed to meet and talk with her?’

Yang Yixue sent another message: "Are you still angry? A grown man shouldn’t be so petty. This is just a small misunderstanding between us. Why don’t we meet and talk it over?"

Jiang Liu glanced at the message but couldn’t be bothered to reply.

He had already made everything clear. If she was going to remain stubbornly deluded, there was no need for him to waste his breath.

If not for the matter of Tongtong’s visitation rights, he would have nothing to do with Yang Yixue whatsoever.

Yang Yixue anxiously kept refreshing her messages, but even after a long while, no new message appeared.

Yang Yixue’s hands trembled as she held her phone, her whole body shaking with rage. She was going crazy!

Then, it dawned on her.

Jiang Liu had never intended to get back together with her. It had all been her own wishful thinking.

Her resentment reached its absolute peak.

She wished she could grind Jiang Liu into dust.

’Even though she was the one who initiated the divorce, shouldn’t Jiang Liu be coaxing her, begging her to take him back?’

"Heh, so what if you sell a few buns and make a bit of money? What’s there to be so smug about?"

"You’ll never find anyone better than me! I earn a million a month! Who can possibly compare?"

"I’ll find a man ten times better than you! Just you wait and see!"

Yang Yixue leaned back in her seat, muttering to her phone.

After a bout of self-deceiving rationalization, confidence gradually returned to her face.

—

「World’s Second Best Food Shop.」

"Fuck, they’re sold out again! Can’t you just make more?"

"I’m coming back at 4 PM to get in line. Let’s see which one of you idiots can out-hustle me then."

Customers coming to buy buns saw the shutter pulled halfway down and could only walk away, cursing in frustration.

「Inside the shop.」

Tongtong was sniffling in Jiang Liu’s arms.

She had stopped crying, but her eyes were still swollen.

Her two eyes, swollen like the bottom of a peach, were narrowed to a slit.

"Tongtong, are you still upset? Daddy already taught her a lesson for you!"

"Mm! Just a little bit."

Tongtong said, pinching her fingers together to show how small.

Jiang Liu chuckled, "Then what can Daddy do to make you happy?"